Hearts Aflame
by ZurineCrystal
Summary: "I'm going to tell you this once. Stay away from him" Hermione had been too dumfounded to reply to that. And so she stayed. Not really knowing what to think. For honestly, the idea that someone telling her to stay away from Draco Malfoy did not even enter her mind. Why should it? He was her best friend.


You don't realise that you have floated too far into the sea until your feet no longer touches the soil and suddenly you're drowning, drifting further and further away. Then, you realise that you're in too deep to be saved. To be rescued. The experience was similar. So very similar. There was no saving her. There was no saving Hermione Granger.

"Ms. Granger" Her secretory had come in. "He's here" That was the beginning of the story. A very common scene. A very insignificant scene. A meeting. Business meeting between two former enemies regarding the transport of a very rare species of Granian. Her, being the Head of Department of International Magical Cooperation and him being the Head of Magical Transport; It was a given that they would be working together when Kingsley had mentioned the Granian.

It didn't bother Hermione. It didn't bother her that she had to work with Draco Malfoy. If anything, she was looking forward to it. Despite his arrogance, he was one of the few intelligent people, if she may say so albeit grudgingly. So no, she was ready when she smiled at her secretory and told her to let him in.

And in he came.

"Granger"

"Malfoy"

That was the first meeting. The first meeting to the many others that were to follow. Along with the meetings came extra work. Extra works meant working late and late. Both of them being so dedicated to what they do meant them working together, to the wee hours of the nights. Nights spent on getting drunk on unhealthy amounts of coffee. Nights that were witness to the budding alliance that bloomed to a full blown friendship. A kind of friendship she has not had before. Not with Harry, not with Ron. A kind of friendship that didn't require her to be the perfect one. The smart one. Truth be told Draco Malfoy was smart enough for them both.

It wasn't long before she trusted him completely. How she did that, when she did that, Merlin knows. What she was aware was that, she relied on his every word. Simply put, she believed in him. That coming from her, well, that was quite the statement.

"Hermione, he's Malfoy!"

"I'm aware. Thank you"

"He's the bad guy"

"He's one of the smartest guys I know. And I trust him"

Convincing Ron and Harry was difficult to say the least. They still haven't accepted him. Not fully. Not truly.

How did this happen? Was there an exact moment? A particular point in her life, when she realised, when she had to take a moment to let it sink in and think; "Yes, I love him"

She wished it had been like that. If it had been then she could have tamed her heart. Pushed herself to forget him. It wasn't. It was like setting oneself on fire while still frozen. Unexpected. Something she had not anticipated. No. Not ever.

When did that happen?

"Hey" Malfoy knocked on her door and grinned at her.

"You're a God!" She had replied, running to him and grabbing the coffee placed in his hand. At her arched eyebrow, he sighed and said, "Café' latte with no sugar and extra cream. Just like the ones I've been getting you for the past several decades"

"You're such a drama queen, Malfoy" She chuckled before going back to her desk. He had followed her, closing the door behind him.

"So are you ready?" He sat down on the chair and immediately grabbed her papers, going through them casually.

"Giv-"She smacked his head. "Give that to me"

"Granger!"

"It's not regarding anything about your Department"

"You're point being?" He smirked at her. His eyes so very sure that he would get what he wanted. "Fine. But only because I need your help in this" Hermione relented.

They got working again. The way she liked it best. This was one of the finest things about Malfoy. The intellectual conversations.

"You're coming right?" Malfoy said, his head still buried in the huge pile of work that was the life of Hermione Granger.

"To what?" She was leaning over him looking at what he was doing. "Malf! Draco! No" She half wailed seeing him make a mistake.

"To...oh relax Granger" He swapped away her hands and ignored the offended "Hey!", "There's magic for a reason" He added before he clarified his mistake.

"To my house of course. Meet Astoria and little Scorpius"

"You mean your mansion!" Hermione joked as she went back to sipping her drink.

"One and only" This caused her to burst out laughing. Only she didn't know that this would be one of those last times that she would laugh this freely.

That night she hadn't worn anything even remotely fancy. Malfoy had seen her in her worst days. Wearing a plain white dress, leaving her hair down, with the barest hint of makeup, Hermione Granger apparated to the Malfoy Manor. She had expected Malfoy to be there to greet her. He wasn't. After promising herself to curse him to the end of the century, Hermione walked to the door and knocked on it.

The door opened, and again something unexpected had happened. It wasn't a house elf that opened the door. It was a little boy, not more than 3 years old. A boy wearing a tuxedo with his head crowned in white gold, perfect hair.

"Hello" She scooted down to talk to him. "Are you Scorpius" She whispered, the little boy already moving around her heart to find a place for himself.

"Scorpius Abraxus Malfoy. Named after my Great grandfather because grandfather was a very bad man" He puffed up his chest before replying.

"You're not supposed to say that to strangers, Scorp!" Malfoy was standing at the doorway with a charming smile on his face.

"I love him!" Hermione declared before going to give Malfoy a hug. "Hey" He returned the hug.

"Come in! Astoria's waiting" He pulled Hermione in, the little Malfoy trailing behind them.

It was the first time that she met her. Astoria Malfoy. The beautiful, regal wife of her best friend. The sight of her in an expensive cloak wrapped around her, her posture rigid sent shivers running down Hermione's back. Why? Hermione was one of the most respected and famous woman in the wizarding community. There was no need for her to feel threatened, and on her edge. There really wasn't.

"Ready?" Draco Malfoy slid out the chair for Hermione to sit before doing the same for his wife. Hermione was still reeling from the unexpected feeing that it took her some time to get hold of herself and sit down.

The dinner had been wonderful. The food; delicious. She again felt a pang of feeling, a pang of jealousy thinking of how much a great cook Astoria was. It was revealed later to her that the house elves did the cooking. But that was a story for some other time.

It wasn't long before they were done with dinner. Hermione found herself out in the garden, thinking. About the unusual feelings. About everything that had happened since she got there. It was then that she felt someone come up behind her. Having a little idea of who it might be, she turned around to face Astoria.

"Astoria"

"I'm going to tell you this once. Stay away from him" Hermione had been too dumfounded to reply to that. And so she stayed. Not really knowing what to think. For honestly, the idea that someone telling her to stay away from Draco Malfoy did not even enter her mind. Why should it? He was her best friend. Much like Ron and Harry. Yet, she didn't hear Luna or Ginny going off the handle at seeing her with them.

She was still pondering over that when Malfoy had come to stand by him. "Hey"

"Something weird just happened" And so she told him. Not really realizing that she was carving out a dangerous path for the both of them.

"What?"

"I think that your wife thinks that we're having an affair" Malfoy burst out laughing, "What?!"

She laughed along, not whole-heartedly, no. But she laughed. The whole idea was preposterous. There was nothing going on between them. Nothing could ever happen between them. He was married with an absolutely adorable baby.

"I'll take care of it" Malfoy promised before casually taking hold of her elbow and apparating them away to her house. He then stayed with her for a long time, doing absolutely nothing but talk. Occasionally bursting into fits of giggles. It was only when the sun emerged within the within the darkness that they realised that it had been that long. With the sun rising from beneath the shadows, the lightness harnessed in Hermione's heart. As the sun rose, her feelings on some specific things, Malfoy things, started becoming clear. Malfoy had left, after a quick hug and a peck, by the time sun had started to shine bright up in the sky. And by that time, Hermione was very much aware of one thing. She was in love with Draco Malfoy. Had been for a long time.

 **This is my little gift for you all for keeping patience. I'm in the middle of a very important exam that I NEED to survive. So here. Have at it =)**

 **BLISSFUL TORMENT will be updated soon, hopefully. Have faith.**

Oh and if you wish for me to make this into a two-shot let me know. Initially wrote this as a one-shot. Still, its your call

xx

ZC (Always at your service. Well, except when she's off studying)


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